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AbstractSince Esping‐Andersen presented the three worlds of welfare typology thesis, the study of the classification of welfare regimes has been dominated by his work and the debates surrounding it. This article is concerned with two important responses to his work. The first response is the development of welfare typologies based on the principle of decommodification. The second response is the concern that East Asian countries are underrepresented in the 18 members of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) studied by Esping‐Andersen. As a result, there are calls for expanding the scope of the studies on the classification of welfare regimes to those in East Asia.This article makes contributions to these two responses by presenting two analytical tasks. The first task is to develop two health decommodification typologies based on two different methods (cluster analysis and Esping‐Andersen's index‐based regime construction). Both of them cover the 18 OECD members studied by Esping‐Andersen and four tiger economies (Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore). The second task is to demonstrate that the two health decommodification typologies provide important information for the debate on the existence of two essential preconditions for the development of an all‐encompassing East Asian welfare regime, namely the existence of significant differences in the welfare systems between the East Asian countries and the 18 OECD countries studied by Esping‐Andersen (1990) and the existence of significant similarities in the welfare systems between East Asian countries.

Both the Hong Kong and Beijing governments intend to secure the functions of social welfare in enhancing the attractiveness of their economies to private capital by strengthening social stability and reducing the negative effects of social welfare on the private market. This article examines the difficulties they face in carrying out these two tasks at the same time with the focus on the health finance reforms in Hong Kong and urban China. Three questions are discussed: What are the causes of these reforms? What are their key features? What are the difficulties faced by the Hong Kong and Beijing governments in launching them?

English By examining the health strategies used by Chinese people in Britain and the responses of traditional Chinese societies to foreign medical practices, this article shows the significance of the studies of the ethnic minority groups' traditional values and/or practices to the development of ethnic-sensitive social work. French En examinant les stratégies sanitaires des Chinois en Grande-Bretagne et la position des sociétés chinoises à l'égard des pratiques médicales étrangères, cette recherche démontre l'importance d'étudier les valeurs traditionnelles des groupes ethniques minoritaires et de développer des pratiques de travail social qui tiennent compte de l'ethnicité. Spanish Mediante el examen de las estrategias de salud utilizadas por la población China en Gran Bretaña y las respuestas de las sociedades Chinas frente a las prácticas médicas extranjeras, este artículo muestra la importancia del estudio de los valores tradicionales y/o prácticas de los grupos étnicos minoritarios para el desarrollo de un trabajo social étnicamente sensible.

PurposeThis article explores the link between defamilisation studies and studies of the adult worker model and discusses the mixed implications that government strategies for supporting the adult worker model have for defamilisation. The adult worker model emphasises that all adult men and women ought to engage in formal employment; defamilisation studies stress the importance of enhancing women's chances of choosing (not) to perform important family roles such as the receiver of financial support and the care provider.Design/methodology/approachTwo new strategies ("condition building" and "rewarding/penalising") for promoting the adult worker model are identified based on literature review; their empirical significance is explored through an examination of comparative data concerning early childhood education and care policies (ECEC) and reforms in pension age in 14 countries.FindingsThe evidence shows that promoting the adult worker model does not necessarily benefit all women. While the 14 countries provide ECEC to varying extents, the increase in pension age in most countries shows that governments adopt a "rewarding/penalising" strategy for promoting the adult worker model by allocating major welfare based on people's labour force participation. These pension reforms may generate a negative impact on women's chances of attaining financial autonomy.Originality/valueThis study presents two new strategies for promoting the adult worker model and shows the empirical significance of these strategies based on comparative data. It also highlights the importance of searching for alternative concepts, namely economic defamilisation, for guiding pension reforms.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the difficulties faced by women with same-sex desire (commonly known as "lalas") in China in securing defamilisation and familisation. It has two objectives – to show the challenges lalas face in organizing their life in interaction with the family, work economy and government; and to discuss how these challenges make women with same-sex desire difficult to secure defamilisation and familisation. Familisation refers to the extent to which people's participation in the family is increased; whereas defamilisation refers to the extent to which people's participation in the family is reduced.


Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted literature review and in-depth interviews with 20 Chinese women with same-sex desire in Beijing to collect and analyze data for fulfilling the two objectives.


Findings
Lalas face serious challenges in their daily lives – they receive insufficient support from the government, work economy and family in organizing their life and their freedom is constrained by these three sectors. These challenges render lalas difficult to achieve several types of defamilisation/familisation (the "carer," "care receiver," "provider of financial support" and "receiver of financial support").


Originality/value
Few defamilisation and familisation studies focus on women with same-sex desire. No studies on defamilisation and familisation of lalas in China have been done before. With the focus on lalas, the paper discovers new causes of the difficulties in securing defamilisation/familisation, and possible solutions to these difficulties.

PurposeThis article focuses on children's social quality. Social quality can be understood as the extent to which people can engage in the social, economic, and cultural lives of their communities, under conditions that strengthen their well-being and potential. This article has two purposes. The first is to develop a league table ranking 23 countries' children's social quality based on comparative data. The second is to examine the correlation between these countries' commitment to promoting children's social quality and reducing the child care gap, where childcare is insufficiently covered by child care leave or Early Childhood Education and Care.Design/methodology/approachWe analyse the findings obtained from the children's social quality league table and the child care gap league table for the 23 countries.FindingsThe findings reveal mixed relationships between the children's social quality league table and the child care gap league table. These findings indicate that we cannot assume that countries prioritizing the reduction of the child care gap automatically possess the capacity or willingness to promote other aspects of children's welfare. They also highlight the significance of encouraging countries to enhance their children's social quality as a way to promote children's welfare rather than solely reducing the child care gap.Originality/valueChildren's social quality is a new research area. To explore it, this article makes an innovative attempt by exploring the connection between social quality, children's welfare, and the child care gap. The league table of children's social quality this article developed is the first of its kind.

Eastern welfare systems have largely been neglected by Western social policy. There is very little information in the West about their operation and the differences between them. Yet, as China and South-East Asia emerge as a major regional economic block, it is vital to understand the social models that are in operation there and how they are developing. This book puts the spotlight on the Chinese and South-East Asian welfare systems, providing an up-to-date assessment of their character and development. In particular it examines the underlying assumptions of these systems and how the processes of globalisation are impacting on them. As well as specific country case studies, there is a valuable comparative analysis of Eastern and Western welfare states. The book provides a unique insight into the main South-East Asian welfare systems written by experts living and working within them. It focuses on 'Confucianism' and globalisation to provide an account of tradition and change within the South-East Asian cultural context. Eastern welfare states in transition will be essential reading for students of social policy requiring an understanding of non-Western welfare systems. Policy makers and practitioners who are interested in how Eastern welfare systems are adapting to globalisation will also find it an important read